“Currently we are implementing 21 projects in 14 cities across 11 regions in Russia with an overall area of 700,000 square meters,” he remarked.

The company develops shopping and recreation centers in Russian cities such as Nizhnevartovsk, Podolsk, Ulyanovsk, Lipetsk, Lytkarino, Solnechnogorsk, Barnaul, Syktyvkar, Ukhta, Tyumen, Magnitogorsk, Smolensk, Belgorod and Omsk, added Khramov.

By the end of the year the company plans to increase the area of properties in its portfolio to 800,000 – 850,000 square meters, and by next year increase this figure to 1.3 – 1.4 million square meters. In 2008, Finstar Properties is investing $500 mln in developing its retail real estate projects, explained Khramov.

From 2007 to the first half of 2008, the main source of financing for the company’s projects will be its shareholder equity, and in the next two to three years the company plans to issue an IPO, said the Executive Director of Finstar Properties.

According to Khramov, the company will develop three formats of shopping centers – district shopping and recreation centers with areas of  at least 10,000 square meters; regional shopping and recreation centers with areas of at least 40,000 square meters and super regional shopping and recreation centers with areas of at least 80,000 square meters. Preliminary plans show the payback period for each project as five to seven years.